need id help

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by wacky1980, Sep 2, 2011.

  1. wacky1980

    wacky1980 Active Member

    i found this old coin in a junk drawer today. its diameter is slightly larger than a penny, but not quite as thick. it appears to be made of copper. problem is, it's so severly worn that it's about impossible to discern most of the features on it. plus, it's been damaged at some point by another object, which has warped it pretty badly. the picture is below.
    IMG00162-20110902-1639.jpg
    sorry for the lack of a super-detailed pic. i'm working on getting a new camera.

    as you can see, it's pretty much worn flat. there's what appears to be an eye in the center. towards the bottom left, i can make out the first 3 or 4 letters of the word, which appear to be either "play" or "plat" but the rest have been worn away. there are also letters in the band around the top, but are too difficult to make out. separating the top and bottom words, there are three leaves(?). the other side of the coin is about impossible to discern at all.

    i'm not sure if this is the forum for this piece, but i don't believe it to be american. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
     
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  3. yakpoo

    yakpoo Member

    No idea here...my first thought was of the 1783 Nova Constellatio, blunt rays, but that's too much of a stretch...even for me.
     
  4. wacky1980

    wacky1980 Active Member

    that coin was actually the closest thing i could find in a google image search, but the lettering doesn't match up in that instance.
     
  5. jays-dad

    jays-dad Member

    Looks like an Arabic 5, is it middle eastern/North African?
     
  6. zach24

    zach24 DNSO 7070 71 pct complete

    First thought that comes to mine is Egypt, but it can be any country that has Arabic Numerals on coins lol
     
  7. wacky1980

    wacky1980 Active Member

    i've been image searching for a while now, and i think it's possible that it could be an arabic 5 in the center, but the overall design doesn't seem to match anything i can find.

    another possibility i've been playing with is that the design in the middle is an "all-seeing eye" like a masonic symbol?
     
  8. phdunay

    phdunay Member

    Try taking a pencil and paper and shading over the details, it may be easier to read that way
     
  9. wacky1980

    wacky1980 Active Member

    unfortunately, the coin is so heavily worn and also doesn't lay flat. a pencil rub is just as tough to get any detail out of as looking at the coin itself.
     
  10. Siberian Man

    Siberian Man Senior Member

    Republic of Sudan, I suppose.
     
  11. pipster

    pipster New Member

    Looks like an Arabic 5
     
  12. LotsofCoppers

    LotsofCoppers Active Member

    I think it might be the back of an old button. The center is the remains of the shank and the word you are seeing is part of the backmark "Plated" - something like this:

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Kasia

    Kasia Got my learning hat on

    By George, I think you might be on to something!
     
  14. wacky1980

    wacky1980 Active Member

    That could be a winner! I suppose it wouldn't have to be a coin. I had my doubts that the oval mark was an arabic 5 because it was shaped a little bit differently. Will have to image search buttons now to see if I can find an exact match.
     
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